


A place to call home

by TranscendentMagic



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Magic, Eventual Smut, Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Family Dynamics, Human/Monster Romance, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Interspecies Romance, M/M, Memory Loss, POV Multiple, Porn With Plot, Slow Romance, Trans Male Character, Vaginal Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:29:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22664785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TranscendentMagic/pseuds/TranscendentMagic
Summary: In a world where fae and other creatures are real but only a very rare few can see them, Andrew Hickey is one such human with the rare gift. Coming from a family of gifted healers, he works to help any who need it and lives a quiet life until his world turned upsidedown when he saves a mysterious hurt fae in the woods who seems to have lost all his memories after waking up. As the two slowly bond and become so much closer than either of them expected, the fae's past unexpectedly catches up to them, putting them both in unforeseen danger they might not be ready for.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character, original male character/male monster
Kudos: 9





	A place to call home

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Faebruary everyone! 
> 
> I've been wanting to write this story for quite some time now, this whole story is very self-indulgent (as a trans man into exophilia I always want more trans content dealing with monsters and the fantastical), and I finally worked up the nerve and got to writing it this month. I have some chapters planned out but will expand a lot more if people seem interested! This story will be a fairly slow burn, smut will happen but not until a few chapters in. This story is also heavily inspired by "The Ancient Magus's Bride", "The Spiderwick Chronicles", and several other various stories/franchises that mean a lot to me. This is being written just for fun, I'm absolutely not trying to claim any super original ideas here.  
> (Also this story isn't beta'd, sorry for any grammatical mistakes, I'm new to this!)

**Chapter one: On strange beginnings  
  
  
  
  
  
  
** It was what at first glance seemed to be an ordinary winter’s day.   
  
Another cold January day sluggishly brought Andrew Hickey out of his warm bed. He grimaced and shivered when the much colder, frigid air hit his face when he was finally ready and stepped out of his cottage, fogging up his glasses which he hurriedly tried to fix. His only saving grace was the warmth of cooked oats settling in his stomach that he'd happily eaten for breakfast. Even with all of his layering, his heavy winter jacket, warm padded pants, and his scarf, this day seemed particularly adamant to seep deep cold into his body. 

Soft puffs of his breath flew around him, filling the countryside air before they gently disappeared in the light breeze as he closed his house door behind him and set off. Soft fresh powder from the previous night's snow laid on the ground delicately, sparkling in the early morning sun and crunching under his boots as he walked down a long path towards the woods a short distance away from his house. 

Winter had come harder and colder this year but it wasn’t anything Andy couldn’t handle in the well-made house his grandparents had built. Keeping the place warm did require a lot of firewood though, which was exactly why Andy had been forced to set out, a venture to look for any old dry pieces of wood he could scavenge, an act he’d had to play out several times in the last month alone, making the man a bit frustrated lately. He didn’t live alone, exactly, but the other house’s residents weren’t the kind he could ask to do this kind of thing, nor would he ever try to. So over and over again it was, into the cold weather he wasn’t at all a fan of.   


Pushing aside the thoughts he knew in hindsight were a bit childish, he continued his walk on the path to the forest, taking a moment to notice that things seemed especially quiet. Before he could dwell on it more, something small suddenly whizzed by Andy's ear, flying away from the forest.    
  
"Wait!" He called out, startled for a moment but finding his voice. The flying little thing stopped at the request.

Above him, impossibly, like something straight out of a children's story, was a little flying creature, a sprite. Looking more flower-like than anything, with green skin and four large, shiny eyes, short fluffy purple hair sticking up, complete with a twin pair of wings and long flowy body that reminded Andy of a crocus flower. Its wings glittered in the light as it stopped and fluttered in place to look down at him. It was a fae being-- or as Andy had taken to calling them , a  _ 'neighbor'. _

Most people couldn't see them at all and didn't know they really existed outside of fairy-tale books, but Andy and his mother, and his grandmother, and possibly even farther back than that, had all been able to see them. He had never gotten a clear answer as to why his family could, but he always made the best of it by helping the little fae out whenever he could. His house and large property had become something of a safe haven for them over the years, most the fae around his town knowing it was a welcome place for them. Andy was especially dedicated to helping them in recent years, as it seemed there were fewer and fewer of them around.

"Good morning, neighbor! Please wait, I have something for you!" Andy called out, reaching a gloved hand into his pocket where he always kept some berries and other treats just for encounters like this.

There were many faes he purposefully kept away from due to their dangerous, unpredictable behavior, but many more were reasonably friendly and could be easily appeased with just a small gift. Over the years, he'd learned that most fae were especially fond of berries and sweets, which were easy enough for him to gather and make. Andy held the treat up at the little flying winter fae, seeing it's four eyes light up and quickly fly down to snatch up the small red berry.

The sprite ate the berry happily in just a few bites, but it didn't return any smiles once it was done, dropping it’s exciting nature instead to look rather perturbed as it wiped its mouth of the sweet berry’s juices. "Human who sees into the Veil, our kind gift-giver, for kindness, I offer you a warning; stay away from the woods this day. The wind whispers, something has happened and the forest is angry, everyone is leaving!" It spoke out, it's high pitched voice sounding more like a song than regular speech.

Taken back by the words, Andy tilted his head in thought, his expression forming into one unsure. "Wait, something  _ wrong? _ But what? Usually, it's so peaceful around here. I can't even remember the last time anything has--" Before Andy could say any more the sprite let out a tiny gasp, turning to the forest where a large flock of birds scattered from somewhere in the woods.

"Go, go! Take my warning, it would be a shame to see our little gift-giver get hurt!" They shouted, which Andy just barely caught as it flew away past him at an impressive speed.

With the neighbor now long gone and no help for more information, Andy sighed slightly, looking at the trail of sparkling fragments the fae briefly left behind in its trail before it too disappeared. Winter fae were often a little grumpy and sometimes hard to get more than a few words out of, but that seemed like a particularly unhappy exchange. What was it so concerned about? The neighbor had warned not to go out into the woods, and any other time he would've turned back, but… Andy looked back down the road back to his house in the distance. He wouldn't be keeping warm for long if he didn't find any more wood for his fireplace. He didn't want to dip into his practically non-existent emergency savings to go all the way into town and buy any either; not only was that a 30-minute walk away at least, but going into town also came with its own problems he didn't want to think about at the moment. And there would be so much wood for  _ free _ in the forest. 

Andy turned, biting his lip for a moment before continuing down the path right into the woods. He could be quick, in and out with just a few wood pieces, and whatever was happening with the fae neighbors wouldn't even come up if he did it fast enough, surely. He hoped.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
\---

He hadn’t gone farther out than a few yards into the forest, before he noticed how quiet and strangely empty the forest was, even for winter’s standards. Usually, he'd see at least a couple of various neighbors walking or flying around the forest, or hear some birds, or something, but today there was  _ nothing _ anywhere as if he could hear his own heartbeat. The general unnerving silence was starting to make him nervous, truth be told. On the bright side, in just a short bit he had managed to find a small armful of branches and a small, miraculously dry little log that would suffice, and was just starting to feel a smidge more at ease-- when he was interrupted by a very loud crunch of something obviously stepping heavily into the twigs and snow somewhere just behind him. 

At first, he’d been scared it was an animal like a moose, or wild dog, which wouldn't be impossible, and not something he wanted to cross paths with. It could even an unfriendly fae, which were rare but very hard to deal so easily with. Worse yet, maybe it was whatever the little winter neighbor had been talking about; whatever it was that scared them off was probably something pretty dangerous if they would've rather run from it, fae were hardy, brave creatures by nature, so this must've been something very upsetting. Andy yelled at himself internally and realized he was not prepared in the least for any serious confrontation. He hadn't even brought his knife or any other kind of weapon along, and now he only had twigs and a flimsy log to defend himself with. When he got home he was so going to be scolded. _If_ he even got home.

For a tense moment, Andy froze, too nervous to turn around and make things possibly worse. He breathed out short, nervous puffs of air as he felt his heart race, thrumming loudly in his ears. He tried to figure out what the noise was without turning around but it had gone suddenly so quiet again. His hands trembled in their grasp of the few twigs he'd managed to gather. He felt like the entire world was frozen, time standing still and never-ending, and would've continued to stand there frozen but-- A deep,  _ human-sounding  _ groan of pain cut through the deafening silence, making Andy flinch, his hairs rising to stand on edge under his winter outfit. Without thinking it really through, Andy snapped around to face the noise.

Andy's hold on the twigs tightened suddenly, the small branches creaking under his arms. It was certainly, undoubtedly, instantly recognizably  _ not _ a human, or animal. Standing a few feet away was a  _ neighbor _ and a  _ large _ one at that. It looked like it probably towered over the height of Andy's 5'5 status, although it was all a bit hard to tell exactly, given how strangely hunched over it was. At first, Andy was sure the thing would pounce on him but… The fae stood there, unmoving save its weirdly heavy breathing.    
  
Their large clawed hand scratched for purchase on the large birch tree next to it, marking deep carvings into the wood, the other hand gripping its side. The large neighbor had shiny short fur that reminded Andy of an animal, it even had a long tail much like one, and was black all over except in their torso, the inner parts of their arms, part of their thighs, and neck, where it was a dark purple. Long, messy black hair fell over their face which-- at first Andy thought it might be a helmet or mask of some kind, which wasn't entirely unusual for fae to wear, but after it looked slightly up, he realized that the strikingly bright white bone of a large animal-like skull, complete with two long deer-like white horns,  _ was _ this fae's face, not a mask at all.    
  
Yellow, tired eyes from dark inky eye-sockets looked up blearily at Andy, staring past him as though they weren't actually seeing anything at all. They let out another long hot puff of breath, opening its mouth to show a long row of sharp bone-white teeth and a pink tongue. Another soft groan spilled out of its mouth that pulled at Andy's heart from how painful the tone sounded. It must've been hurt--

Finally, Andy noticed, his eyes catching on the now stained snow below the fae. Blood. Bright red blood was dripping out of the fae’s side, a handle sticking out from where they were holding themselves. The large fae moved slightly and a soft hissing noise and a small trail of steam became visible from the wound and Andy knew why instantly; it had been pierced with iron. Iron burned away at fae skin like that. That was probably why they hadn't pulled it out themselves too, Andy couldn't imagine how painful that must've been. It looked like they had lost a lot of blood too based on the steady trickle of it dripping down into snow, beginning to melt it, already beginning to form a small slush puddle. Fae weren't like humans, and could usually take far more of a beating, but Andy supposed even a fae this strong looking could be easily downed by the right stab of iron. Andy wondered how this fae had even been stabbed like this though. Most people couldn’t see fae, and his town had been utterly peaceful for many years.

As the worrying, unhelpful thoughts began to swirl in his head, Andy's wide eyes flicked back to the fae's face, unsure of what exactly to do. He'd never encountered a fae hurt like _this_ before and given its size and intimidatingly huge body, Andy wagered it must've been very strong, and that made it all the more dangerous and precarious a situation if they didn’t want to be messed with, some fae took great insult being touched by a human. But he couldn't just leave it there, right?

Before Andy could manage a helpful thought, the fae flinched harshly, shivering and hunching itself more. " _ Hurts… _ " the fae growled in a surprisingly deep, gravely voice that sent a shiver down Andy’s spine. The fae staggered, trying to take a step toward the man, a hand reaching out to Andy but the moment they let go of the tree they couldn't seem to hold themselves up anymore, collapsing straight into the cold snowy ground instead.

In an instant of pure instinct, Andy rushed forward, dropping his kindling, the messy bramble and log dropping to his feet into the snow below without care. He dropped to the snow, kneeling by the fae, for a moment still a bit hesitant to touch them, before trying to get the fae’s hand away from where it clutched over the bleeding wound. Reluctantly they let Andy pull the blood-soaked hand away, although Andy guessed that was because it was too weak to really put up a fight.   
  
“Pain…  _ Please _ ...” They whimpered. It seemed like they were trying to get up for a moment before stopped and falling back down, coughing out a splatter of blood, staining the snow in front of their face. “Painful hurts...” It slurred, its bloodied hand reaching out, gently grabbing Andy’s arm before falling back weakly into the snow. “ _ Please _ .”   
  
“W-Wait! Don’t try to talk! Stay still! I’ll, I’ll uh--” Andy tried to keep his voice calm, failing to stifle his panic or his now shaking hands. There was no way he could just leave them here after hearing them ask so desperately for help. He just hoped this fae wasn’t going to regret asking for help. “I’ll be right back! Stay here, and don’t move!” Andy shouted, standing up and beginning to run back to the direction of his house. He was going to need something to pull the large fae home on, there was no way he could carry or drag them all the way back to his house.  
  
As the man ran, a glance back showed the large fae laying there, motionless, his eyes closed. Andy bolted, unable to remember the last time he'd ran so fast in his entire life.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
\---   
  
The fae let out a sharp gasp of breath as it awoke, bolting himself upright and wincing instantly, a pained groan slipping out his mouth and he gripped his side, rustling around the blankets that had tucked him into bed. Andy himself flinched at the movement, snapping to attention from where he’d been sitting in a chair beside the bed, lazily messing with a tray of jars set on top of a dresser.   


Andy tried to regain himself, turning to the fae. “Oh, uh, so you’re finally awake!” Andy smiled tentatively, his tone a bit careful until he got a better read on his guest. ”How do you feel? Any pain?” The man asked, pouring a glass of water from a large pitcher into an empty glass.   
  
The fae blinked and just stared at Andy a long moment, looking dazed. “No, I’m…” Their voice faltered, something seeming off even to Andy. The large fae dropped his grip on his side to clutch at the heavy quilt blanket. After a long pause, he started again. “Where… Where am I?” The fae asked, tilting it’s boney head slightly.   
  
Andy internally sighed a breath of relief that after all this the fae seemed just as calm awake as he had been sleeping. Blessings were definitely being counted. “Oh, right, sorry, I almost forgot-- and we technically haven’t been introduced yet. My name is Andrew Hickey, ah, but you can just call me ‘Andy’. You’re actually in my house right now, I took you in after you’d collapsed in front of me in the woods." Andy crossed his arms a moment, cheeks puffing slightly. "And not an easy task either! You're so big I had to get my wheelbarrow to haul you in, it wasn't easy.” Andy huffed but let out a small airy laugh, holding out the glass of water he just poured to the fae. “Oh, but, uhm, I know neighbors don’t usually have names, so you probably don’t either, right?”   
  
“ _ Neighbors? _ ” The fae repeated back and took the glass, taking a slow sip of it.   
  
“Yes, the  _ fae _ ; spirits and various creatures of the world beyond-- what you and your kind are. All the beings that live beyond the Veil, you know? I just call you all 'neighbors' since it feels like you all are to me out here. There's not another house out here for a few miles, so you guys are often all I talk to most days. And it honestly seemed a bit nicer, too.” Andy smiled sheepishly and shrugged slightly, fixing his glasses.   
  
“I see. Yes, of course.” The fae stared plainly down at the water in the glass for a moment, watching the liquid. The fae opened his mouth for a moment before shutting it, seemingly thinking more until he was ready to start again. “...I don’t think I ever had a name, no, but I'm also not sure… I can’t seem to... remember.”   
  
“You don’t remember?” Andy asked, curious when the fae fell silent and didn’t continue immediately.   
  
“Yes, I'm quite certain I... don’t remember much of  _ anything _ … At all. It’s like a thick fog before waking up just now. I'm not sure why.” He stated bafflingly frankly in a calm deep tone, taking another slow sip of water.   
  
“Wait,  _ what? _ ” Andy said incredulously, taking the role of being emotional in both their places at the statement. “ _ Blank? _ You mean, you-- you don’t remember what happened? When you were injured and then fell in front of me in the woods-- or even  _ before _ all that?” Andy shot a concerned, confused look at the fae, who didn't return a look of much emotion at all. The fae's nonchalant aura wasn't helping if anything making Andy even more confused and riled up.   
  
“Yes, I’m afraid it’s all gone. I’m trying to remember but… There doesn’t seem to be much I can think of... Do  _ you _ know why?” The fae looked back to Andy, tilting its head once again.  
  
Andy paused, bringing a finger up to his mouth to press on his lips in thought. “No, not really... Although, you were very hurt by  _ this, _ ” The man opened up the top dresser drawer beside him, rummaging around inside until he pulled out an iron knife, covered in now old dried up blood. “This knife is what gave you your wound, and had some kind of enchantment on it, but I'm not sure what. Maybe this is why? Does it look familiar at all?” Andy held the knife up but kept it at a reasonable distance just in case.  


The neighbor gave a weary look to the knife but remained quiet, shaking his head ‘no’.   
  
Andy sighed softly again, tossing the knife back into the drawer and shutting it dejectedly. This was certainly an unexpected turn of events. The knife was certainly of human make, no fae could touch iron, and the faint magick on it was worrying enough. Enchanted items like this were something these days of very rare, specific make, only a few people would even know how to make a knife like this from what Andy knew. Unfortunately, it had no engravings or markings that might help figure out who its owner was. Nothing about this sat well.   


By now he'd been thinking about this for days and it wasn't getting any less stressful. Possibly even more worrying was that he'd checked out there in the woods for signs of a person or tracks but by the time he’d gotten back the snow had covered everything up. Andy wasn’t an expert tracker either, so he’d given up and come back. And now with this fae's blank memory, there was no way to ask him what happened. Great.   


For now, Andy dropped the thoughts, feeling a little let down by the whole situation, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Honestly, I don’t know too much about the memory stuff. You’re also the first neighbor, or anyone at all really, that I’ve ever treated with an injury quite  _ this _ extensive. I was so worried you'd--" The man seemed to catch himself, stopping and making an unsure face down at his lap, his hands tightening into fists before he composed himself again and relaxed, taking a long breath. "I’m not exactly a  _ proper _ doctor per se, but my family actually has a history in being healers, to fae and humans alike. You’re very lucky I found you, that injury was...  _ extensive. _ " Andy breathed a soft sigh out, sliding himself closer to the bed, lifting his hands to start to unwrap the bandages from the large fae, drawing both their attention to its unraveling.  


"I'm... sorry." The fae said softly after a moment, his long ears drooping down in a way Andy thought was almost cute, almost like a sad puppy. And he certainly couldn't be mad at that.   


The man smiled, shaking his head. "No, no, don't be sorry at all, being a healer is my job technically. And maybe with enough time, your memories will come back. I’ve heard in people sometimes shock or trauma, or even a bad injury can lead to memory loss, but they can come back sometimes with time and help, maybe it's the same for you guys... Either way, don't worry about it for now, I'm sure they'll come back eventually, and I'll try to help too." He shot a soft, apologetic look up at the fae, who kept his rather blank aura but seemed a bit more relaxed.   
  
"Alright." The fae agreed and fell silent, at least until less than a minute later he piped up again. "If you’ve saved me… I owe you a large debt in return for this act. I have nothing to pledge but my life in fair return but I can give it to you.” The fae spoke once again surprisingly plainly as he placed a hand gently over Andy's, stopping his work.   
  
The comment took Andy off guard, his hands stopped, frozen solid. He looked up at the fae, once again trying to regain himself. This fae wasn’t like any fae he’d ever worked with before, most weren’t even at the best of times known for pledging much of anything to a human, let alone their entire life, and for fae words held serious meaning. He couldn’t even think of agreeing to let this strange fae stay by his side literally forever. “What? N-no, you don’t owe me anything! I just… I help anyone who needs it.” He said, a slight flush overcoming his face as he stared down at the fae's touch. He hadn't meant to get flustered but for some reason couldn't help it.   
  
“Hmm, even still.” The fae said, turning his head away as if the conversation was done and agreed to and dropping his hand, making Andy a bit nervous about how serious this fae was to that statement, but not wanting to argue when his guest still wasn’t in perfect shape yet. The fae would probably come to his senses later, Andy figured.   
  
After another quiet moment of continuing and taking the dirty wrappings off, Andy sat back, reaching for the two jars he’d brought with him on the tray. They were filled with strongly herbal smelling viscous slaves, which Andy rubbed a generous helping of on the now mostly healed wound. The fae slightly shivered at Andy's touch, and Andy almost paused thinking he was in pain, but the fae didn’t make eye contact or move at all, so Andy continued after a moment. Andy had noticed before when he first brought the fae in, but it was still a bit shocking just how scared up this fae seemed to be in places, lines old looking faded scarred skin showing through the short black and purple fur in various places all over his body. And now he had another one with a fresh pink scar the iron knife left behind. Andy’s mind wandered a little, thinking about what kinds of fights this fae had been into to get some of these. He was probably more a physical attacking fae than magick wielding one if the scars were anything to go by. He looked so strong with all the muscles too, touching him was as intimidating as it was unexpectedly exciting-- Andy stamped out the thoughts immediately, refusing to let those thoughts wander, fighting the heat coming to his face by focusing on his work.    


It wasn't too long until Andy sat back in the chair, done with the wrapping and smiling at the nice work he thought he did. “Your wound is almost fully healed now, shouldn’t be much longer, you healed so much quicker than I expected. For now, you might want to stay away from any more fighting, okay? Be careful out there.” The man closed the little jars of healing salves and placed them back on the tray.   
  
Another long, unsettling pause. “... _‘Out there’?_ You mean…” The fae turned his head toward the snow-frosted window across the room. The day was quickly ending, obvious now from the small beams of orange-tinted light cascading into the room through the window's red curtains. The fae didn’t exactly look as excited as Andy was expecting.   
  
The man gave out another confused look. “Yeah, uh,  _ outside,  _ outside. I assumed you wanted to go back out there...?”    
  
The fae didn't respond right away and Andy was starting to get worried before he finally spoke up. “I’m not… I'm not sure.” The fae spoke gently, switching his gaze back toward the human, he seemed strangely tense now. “But I think I... wish to _stay_ for now, if that is possible… Or am I no longer welcome in your house?” He gave a look Andy could only see as a hopeful puppy.   
  
At that, Andy couldn’t help but let out a sudden laugh, a hand going up to his face to try to keep the laughing in, a gesture that seemed to confuse the fae. “No! Nothing like that, oh, geez, sorry, I-- ” Andy took a long breath to try to quiet his laughing fit, dropping his hand. “Sorry, I was just so worried this might’ve been more than I could handle, and here you are asking to _stay_ and--” He took a deep breath, a warm smile on his face. “Of course you can stay, take as much time as you need.” He said warmly, standing up and grabbing the tray of jars. “Right now I would actually feel better if I knew you weren’t out there straining yourself too. I worked really hard for days straight to make sure you recovered, after all. It would be such a waste to get hurt again so quickly." 

" _Days?_ " The fae repeated, looking to Andy, silently looking him over in a way that felt a bit more specifically scrutinizing.   


Andy knew his face looked like he hadn't trimmed or shaved in quite a while, and his hair was a mess, stands sticking up chaotically and probably looked like it was in good need of some brushing. The dark, heavyset in rings he knew were under his eyes weren't exactly healthy either, but it could hardly be helped with a patient who was in such critical condition for so many days. Still, he was sure he wasn’t looking his most flattering.    


Andy shot a sheepish look. "Yes, uhm, you'd been sleeping for about 5 days straight before today. And I didn’t really have time to do much else except watch you, so..." He shifted the tray to adjust his slipping glasses again, trying not to spill anything. "Oh, but you should get some more rest now, don't get out of bed, at least for today. If you need anything you can just call for me, alright? And when you’re feeling better I can show you around if you want." The man smiled, walking over to a door.   
  
“Alright.” The fae said, breathing out a gentle sigh, seemingly resigning for now, laying down more into the bed and looking up to meet Andy’s last glance behind him, the man smiling as he shut the door.  
  
Door shut behind him, Andy immediately leaned against it, taking in what happened. This was going to be more complicated than he was expecting for sure... He definitely needed to tell Lari about this.

**Author's Note:**

> Going to update with new chapters hopefully every other week or so.  
> I drew designs for these guys over on my Twitter (@ Goopossum) and I also do other adult art there so go check that out if want to see cool stuff. 
> 
> Comments/kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
